Around the NBA: Cavs getting Mo’ than they imagined

Chris Beaven

Saturday

Jan 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2009 at 9:30 AM

Scoring 20 points a night was not Mo Williams’ goal when he arrived in Cleveland this season. The point guard just wanted to win after playing on some poor teams in Milwaukee. But with injuries shaking up the Cavs’ rotation the last month, Williams has shown he can be a scorer and still keep the team winning.

Scoring 20 points a night was not Mo Williams’ goal when he arrived in Cleveland this season.

The point guard just wanted to win after playing on some poor teams in Milwaukee.

But with injuries shaking up the Cavs’ rotation the last month, Williams has shown he can be a scorer and still keep the team winning.

“With guys out, I just had to step up and have big nights,” Williams said.

His production has surged during the last nine games, a stretch that began in Chicago when shooting guard Delonte West broke his wrist in the first quarter. Williams scored 26 that night and has put up big numbers ever since.

He’s averaging 23.2 points the last nine games, a significant bump from the 15.7 he averaged the first 36 games. He’s taking five more shots and playing five more minutes a night with West out. Williams has kept his shooting percentage in the 46 to 47 percent range, but his 3-point shooting has increased from 36.2 percent the first 36 games to 47.1 the last nine.

“When we have everybody intact, I don’t have to be as aggressive every night on every possession,” Williams said. “We have so much versatility scoring the basketball.”

But once West joined center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the sidelines, Williams didn’t want any added offensive pressure to fall on the team’s role players.

He didn’t want them thinking they had “to give us a huge night, 20 or 30 points.”

Instead, Williams does that when necessary.

“That’s the versatility I have as a player,” he said.

That versatility shows in the ways he can score.

When Williams put a career-high 43 on the Kings last Tuesday he did it from all over. He struck from the corners. He buried shots from the wings and from out top. He got into the lane to create problems. And all the while, he did it within the framework of the Cavs’ offense.

That’s why when compared to past high-scoring games as a Buck, he said this one “felt the best.”

“This was a different 43 for me,” he said. “It was in the flow. I was playing through the offense and getting shots when they were there.”

Batman and Robin

When Williams arrived, he was immediately thought of as that guy who would finally play Robin to LeBron James’ Batman. Those two have put up some huge numbers together in recent games. They combined for 67 points at Portland, 58 at Utah and 48 at home to the Clippers. And when Williams scored 43, James had a triple-double.

“It’s a 1-2 punch that a lot of teams have in this league and some teams wish they had,” James said. “I think it’s everything that Cavs fans expected.”

Dealing?

The 10-win Clippers have an abundance of good big men for a team headed nowhere -- Marcus Camby, Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman. Mike Dunleavy, the team’s coach and GM, said it’s his “intention” not to trade any of the three before the Feb. 19 deadline.

“All three of our guys have played really well when they’ve played,” Dunleavy said. “I’d like to see them all play together.”

Injuries have prevented the trio from ever being in uniform together. If they all get healthy, Dunleavy said “I feel like they’re good fits” to play together.

24-second clock

- Not much has gone right for the Clippers this season. But in drafting Eric Gordon, it looks like the team might have a future big-time scorer. He put up 41 in a recent win over the Thunder. He scored 27 in the loss to Cleveland on Friday. But it’s not just his offense that his coach likes. “He plays both sides of the floor,” Dunleavy said. “He’s a very good defender.”

- ESPN.com’s Chad Ford reported this week that the Sixers could make Elton Brand available in a trade before the deadline.

- According to hoopsworld.com, the Blazers passed on a trade for Jason Kidd because the Mavericks wanted rookie guard Jerryd Bayless as part of the deal.

- The Mavericks also could be exploring deals for Stephen Jackson of the Warriors and Mike Miller of the Timberwolves. Miller, known for his shooting, could be a target of the Cavs, too. He’s struggled shooting this season, but he’s versatile and willing to rebound -- two qualities the Cavs like in any player.